It’s all that you can do
by Dimitri A
Summary: Flash’s powers have begun to consume him and Clark only knows one person with the ability to help. But that help won’t come cheap and not everyone thinks it’s a good idea. (Slashtastic...)
1. World on Fire

It's all that you can do

I don't own anything used herein or Be Yourself, by Audioslave

Author: Dimitri Aidan

Fandom: Jl:U/TT/Smallville/DC Comics in general

Rating: PG-13/R ish

Series: None

Notes: Uh. It killed 'LtG'. But I'll be back to that eventually…

Summery: Flash's powers have begun to consume him and Clark only knows one person with the ability to help. But that help won't come cheap and not everyone thinks it's a good idea.

Quote: "Tell me Clark, when did you decide to give up on me?"

He smiled wryly. "If I had given up I wouldn't be here."

Pairings: John/Wally, Clark/Lex (Smallville rots the brain), Bruce/J'onn (I guess…). And assorted straight pairings…

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Part Zero

World on Fire

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Wally West didn't get sick. It was just…not possible. Something about viruses just not being able to compete with his super-charged immune system. He was never really focused beyond 'not getting sick'. And, more than that, he'd been fast since he was…a lot younger. He'd been Kid Flash and now he was Flash and he saved people and…stuff like that. He was a hero.

He'd never really tried to be anything else.

Well…he had other stuff going for him, of course. But he'd never really thought he'd be anything but Flash and so he had never been inclined to take any of it seriously.

So now, as J'onn and Bruce frowned at his blood work like it was some kind of puzzle to figure out, he had to admit he wished he'd been more serious. John was sitting in the chair next to him, his hand over Wally's and pretty much dwarfing it in size. The IV in his arm was dripping steadily and it burned in a strange not exactly painful way and every now and then something would beep and John's hand would shift but never leave his own.

This was strangely terrifying. He'd never been afraid of being sick or thought that he'd be knocked flat on his ass by anything, let alone something working inside of him. The fear of death had lingered in the back of his mind for a while now, but he'd always expected something…big. Befitting of a hero of his station, or at least he station he imagined for himself.

Now he wondered if maybe the most unexpected thing would be that something that killed him.

It had started two months ago. One minute he'd been chasing energy-weapon wielding soldiers down a dirt road in some hole in the wall country and the next he was on the ground, throwing up until his stomach was empty, throat raw, and every League member within a five mile radius aware of the fact he wasn't okay. Lantern had come to collect him and he'd brushed off the man's concern like it was nothing.

Now he wished he hadn't Wished he'd let John make him go to the medical wing and get himself checked out, maybe detected whatever the hell was going on with him. Maybe he could have spared himself a month of pain and close calls because he found himself gasping for air he couldn't get.

Wally was sick.

Very sick.

So sick that Batman and J'onn were exchanging looks that could only be described as worried. If J'onn and Bruce were worried it had to be bad. He groaned and slumped back on the cot he was sitting on. John's hand squeezed his and he wished he could say it made him feel better. But it didn't.

"We believe we may have an idea of what is causing your illness." J'onn's voice was strangely soothing and Wally couldn't help but wonder, almost distractedly, if J'onn was influencing his emotions somewhat.

"What is it?" John's voice was rough and thick, but nonetheless in command.

"Wally's ability has…caused his body to try and destroy itself. His speed is causing his body to almost…burn itself out, aging prematurely in a sense."

Wally blinked and looked up at John, who was frowning hard. "What do you mean? I thought you said it was probably the flu."

"The aging is internal mostly, primarily the heart. It's beating so fast that it's wearing down." Bruce sounded very…strained. Strained for Bruce anyway. "His body is trying to fight this wearing down as if he were sick, which is the cause for the fever and chills and other symptoms, but, because the 'illness' is essentially a part of him, it's destroying him. If Wally continues to use his ability his body will simply give out."

John's eyes narrowed for a moment, like he was seriously contemplating removing Bruce's heads from his shoulders before he sighed and looked down at Wally. He arced his eyebrow as if asking a silent question and Wally, being Wally, did his best to deflect from the fact he was about to be sick.

"I bet you're disappointed this pre-mature aging thing doesn't impact my maturity any."

John's lips twitched. "It's tragic. So, Bruce, how do we fix this?"

"We…don't. I don't fully understand how he became the Flash instead of suffering some kind of damage, how his body has survived so long without suffering adverse effects, or anything about the Speed Force." Bruce sounded even more strained, and almost regretful. "I can try and figure something out but the most effective thing would be for Wally to stop being Flash."

Wally just blinked again. Stop being Flash.

He couldn't stop.

He didn't know how to be anything else.

And he was still going to be sick.

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…I like screwing with Wally, stop looking at me like that. I figure, since 'LtG' is stalled, I'm not breaking my 'no more stories' rule just yet.


	2. Visions Clash

It's All That You Can Do

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Chapter Uno

Visions Clash

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Two Months Prior

Wally stumbled into the break room and, after finding the person he'd been looking for, all but collapsed into the chair next to John. The older man spared him an almost distracted glance then returned his attention back to the hand of cards he was holding. If Wally were forced to guess he'd say that John, Shayera, and Oliver were in the middle of a game of poker and, if those three kings were any sign, John was about to win.

"Hangover?" Shayera asked, lips curving into a teasing smile. "You're such a light weight kid. I've told you to stop drinking with John."

"No it isn't a hangover." Wally snapped, annoyed. His head kind of felt like Shayera had decided to take her mace to it from the inside and the idea that it was his fault was kind of irritating. Shayera stared at him for a moment longer before arching an eyebrow. He sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Sorry I…my head really hurts."

"It shows." Ollie smirked at him and Wally could sense a smart remark coming on. "Maybe John is keeping you up too far past your bedtime."

Yeah, there it was.

"I'd retort but I'm not sure if you're saying I'm really young or John's really old." He glared sideways at John who shrugged without looking up. Some help he was. "Either way I refuse to be insulted by a politician."

"And yet you keep letting it happen. Now be nice to your elders before John has to punish you for back talking."

"He'd probably like it." John laid his hand downand, as Wally had suspected, the other two groaned and tossed their hands in. John cracked a small smile and picked up the small pile of money on the table. "You'd be surprised by what really goes on in his head."

Ollie made a face that seemed to say he wouldn't really be surprised, but didn't want to know anyway. Shayera chuckled before pushing her chair back some.

"That's more information than I personally needed for any reason about your sex life."

Wally snorted then winced at the stab of pain behind his eyes. The headache was already starting to become less painful, but laughing was apparently a bad idea. Still he couldn't let such an open just skip past him.

"I understand if you're still upset that John choose me and not you-"

"Right." Shayera broke in but Wally chose to ignore her.

"But that is no reason to be jealous. We both still love you."

There was a long moment of silence. It was the kind of silence that came when John was silently wondering what he'd done to deserve Wally's presence in his life. Then John held out a twenty, which Shayera plucked from his fingers with a grin. She nodded in Ollie's general direction before standing up and leaving the break room. Wally assumed she was going to track down Bruce and try to bribe him into making him do something stupid and pointless.

Why exactly Bruce was open to bribery was beyond Wally, but he was.

Ollie blinked slowly. "Do I get money?"

"I pay Shayera to not kill Wally when he has the occasional burst of stupidity." John's voice maintained it's usual casual deadpan but Wally caught the undertone of amusement to it. Years of practice had helped him to decipher the many tone inflections of John, J'onn, and Bruce. "Where as if you touch Wally I'd just kill you in the painfully slow manner I could think up and draw it out over weeks, if not months depending on my boredom level."

Ollie was silent for a moment while Wally made a valiant effort to not laugh. Finally he stood up and cleared his throat. "That's…I'll see you two later on."

Wally remained silent until he was sure the other man had left the break room then smiled at John. He decided to studiously ignore everyone else in the room, which he found was the best option when it came to the fact that everyone and their mother was fond of watching to see what the 'Gay Couple' was up to.

"I think you scared him."

"That was the general idea behind it." John said as he turned to look at him. "You feeling all right? You look terrible."

"I was feeling like Clark had punched me in the head repeatedly. Not so much now." He said, tilting his head off to the side. "Maybe I should lie down for a while."

"Oh?"

Wally nodded, trying his best to maintain a straight face. "In your room. Cause mine is such a mess and I don't want to have to clean anything up."

"I see." The look John was wearing made it clear that he didn't believe a single word that Wally was saying. Which was fine, really, because he wasn't supposed to believe any of it. Wally was being very deliberately transparent.

"And you should come with me, to make sure I'm okay."

"I can see the logic in that."

Before Wally could actually go anywhere with his undeniable brilliant plan Superman, forever a dark spot on Wally's sex life (not that he'd had much of one until a few months ago, but that was hardly the point) appeared in the doorway. John sighed and rolled his eyes, looking just slightly annoyed. Wally slumped low in his seat, resolutely not pouting.

"We have some trouble in Brazil's capital. A group of mercenaries has taken over and are threatening to burn the entire city to the ground is they aren't paid within the hour."

Wally looked over at him, frowning. "And? I bet they're bluffing, I say we wait the hour out and see."

John's foot connected with his shin and successfully made Wally forget about the now dull thud that was his headache. He glared up at John while reaching down to rub at his ankle and was meet with cool green eyes. If not for the small quirk of John's lips he might have thought he was actually upset.

"Was I interrupting something?" Superman, ever the observant boy scout, asked. His eyes darted from John ten him and back to John curiously.

"No. We're on our way."

"Uh hu." Superman looked skeptical but was gone down the hall a moment later none the less. Wally glared after him while pushing himself up so he was sitting straight. Stupid alien and his unnaturally bad timing.

Wally would still beat him in a fair foot race. Anyway…

"You're going to be all right aren't you?"

"Just a headache, it's fine now. Don't worry about me." Wally raked his fingers through his hair before smiling again. "Your concern is dully noted through."

"I'm sure." John smirked before standing up. He grabbed Wally by the wrist and pulled him up as well. "You up for dinner? I'm buying."

He nodded while shoving his hands into his pockets. "Sounds good to me. Do you think any Thai places deliver on station?"

John laughed as one of his hands touched Wally's hip and slightly calloused fingers found their way under the hem of his t-shirt. He blinked and looked down. John always chose the strangest moments for this kind of thing. Not that Wally would dare complain because…honestly, did he even need to explain it? John leaned in and Wally could feel his breath on his ear.

"I doubt it. How about I met you in my room with the food?" Fingers rubber his skin almost teasingly before changing direction and dipping below the waistband of his jeans. Wally probably would have agreed to sell his Aunt Iris and Bart at that particular moment. John kind of abused his ability to make him a babbling horny moron.

Again, not complaining.

"Uh."

"Good."

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Flash was becoming increasingly annoyed with the guys he was trying to track down and drag back into the city. It wasn't that chasing them was hard, obviously, it was the finding them in order to chase them down that proved to be a pain in his ass. The fact that there were a lot of them, all packing some lovely weapons that seemed to incinerate things on contact didn't help him out either.

Damn interplanetary trading…

If Flash had learned nothing over the years it was that being nearly untouchable didn't translate into completely untouchable and he knew better than to tempt fate when it came to being turned into a pile of ash. Oddly enough it wasn't high on his to-do list.

Why exactly that was he wasn't sure but...yeah.

He hadn't seen any movement for a few seconds and was more than ready to just call it quits. The pain behind his eyes had started up again not too long ago and was getting worse by the second and he just wanted to be done before it got as bad as it had been before. That would effectively rain on the preverbal parade.

Flash came to a halt and sighed. He was sweating and he wasn't sure it was just the rather impressive heat, which seemed to cling to the air like some kind of wool blanket and made it really hard to breath, or just the running. Well, to be honest, he didn't really sweat much or get out of breath. He'd never really thought about it before but now that he had a few moments…

The complete and utter randomness of his thoughts was disturbing to even him at times.

He turned to head back down the path he'd just run down when the world decided to suddenly go diagonal on him. The world tilted before a bright white light obscured his vision. He groaned at a sharp pain in his temple and closed his eyes tightly. When he opened them again he was on his hands and knees, gasping for air he hadn't even realized he needed. Someone was calling his name and insisting on making itself known.

He started to answer J'onn, who seemed to be screaming through the com system in some sinister effort to make his headache that much worse and turn his brain to mush, when his throat clenched up. Something began to burn at the back of it and he reflected almost absently for a moment on the fact he hadn't thrown up since the first time he'd traveled using his own super speed, before he did just that.

His throat burned and his body felt as if it was trying to turn itself inside out, pushing everything that had ever been inside of him out including a few vital organs. His insides twisted painfully and tears stung his eyes. His head felt like someone was slamming a hot poker into his brain over and over again.

It was very much not a nice feeling and he could have lived without it.

As bad as it hurt, and it hurt quite a bit, it faded eventually, leaving him rubbing at teary eyes and trying to block out the really foul taste now covering his tongue. Something rustled near his head and he really hoped it wasn't one of those mercenary guys because he so wasn't in the mood. Black boots fell into his line of sight before large hands grasped him by the shoulders and helped him stand up. He stared up at Lantern who was regarding him carefully.

"You aren't going to be sick again are you?"

"Uh…" He didn't feel sick anymore, just kind of empty and tired. Then again, to be completely fair, he hadn't felt sick before. "No?"

Lantern smiled wryly. "You don't sound sure."

"…" Flash shrugged. Lantern's smile turned a smirk.

"Try not to be. J'onn, I've got him."

"Oh good." Wally muttered. He leaned against Lantern, content to let the other man support his weight. Colors burst on the back of his eyelids for a moment before everything settled into the typical black. His stomach lurched but other than that nothing.

A cool hand pushed his mask back and he cracked an eye open. Lantern put a hand on his forehead and looked almost curious before pushing a few locks of hair back.

"I don't think you're hot-"

"Wow. Self-esteem, crushed."

Lantern ignored him. It was for the best. Thepointless Wally-babble was sure to begin any moment now."You should probably go to the infirmary just to be sure."

"Gah. No. That place smells like bleach." Wally closed his eye again. "Sleep. Be fine later. No worries."

He could almost feel John rolling his eyes. "Right. It's not you who'll be yelled at by Clark and Bruce if something happens to you."

Wally knew, by the way John was muttering half under his breath that he didn't plan to make Wally go to the infirmary so he didn't bother responding. John was silent for a moment then sighed. An arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him closer.

"All right J'onn, bring us up."

Wally heard J'onn's faint 'okay' but found he was drifting into something that resembled sleep. He stayed fully awake long enough for John to direct him towards one of their quarters (he assumed John's since he didn't trip over anything) and crawl into bed.

It was kind of disappointing. He'd really wanted that Thai food.

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Moon: I'm glad

TP96: I'm actually not funny in real life, so I'd have to go with the story. My wit if greatly exaggerated, I assure you.

Me: Rots. The. Brain. You should hear my inner comic fan argue with my inner Smallville fan about how Lex is an evil psycho and Clex is just sick and wrong… Highly amusing.

Cherre: Oh yes, Smallville Rot is of the good, but it's still rot. And please, lets keep the violence to a minimum.

Miyosha: Thanks. Part of why I like writing Wally is the 'random observations' I get to write in, to create more of a scene. Not so much in this chapter, because Wally has a headache and isn't much into scenery, but usually… And we always torment the ones we love, ne?

Mechante: John and Wally already together is fun to do. The sarcastic sweetness of it is just soo…well, fun. And yes, I know that theory. I was helping my boyfriend study for biology and chanced over it and this story was spawned. Proof that school is bad. Not that I needed proof…


	3. I Watched You Change

It's all that you can do

Notes: And now, ladies and gents, I shall play around with some of my other favorite characters, namely Question and Huntress. I think they may be my favorite 'canon' pairing as I have thus far not felt the urge to see them with other people. They appeal to me in the way that only the screwed up can.

Beyond that this has been sitting in a folder on my computer for…a while and I just didn't want to post it because it felt incomplete but…well, I decided to fudge it and put it out anyway.

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Chapter Dos

I watched you Change

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Wally wasn't really aware of much while he was asleep, which was strange for him. He was usually a light sleeper, able to be awake and dressed in a matter of seconds if he heard so much as a creaking floorboard. He did catch a few voices, low and questioning and fleeting images of people: mostly John but Diana and Bruce once or twice. They hovered over him, voices weaving in and out, bits and pieces that often made absolutely no sense.

The one thing that really struck out was feeling so hot at one point he honestly thought he may have been on fire, or that the room was on fire around him, or that Clark was fucking around with his heat vision again. (Which had happened on one or two occasions) He'd tried to come awake to see what was going on but a cool hand had rested on his forehead and soft words that he didn't understand for the life of him were whispered and he'd slipped back into a deeper level of sleep, dismay over the heat fading away into nothingness.

When he finally woke up for real he figured he'd been asleep a few hours, maybe through the night, and opened his eyes expecting to find John ready to start snarking at him, as he was prone to do whenever Wally came back to the tower in worse shape than when he left.

There was really no better motivator to not get hurt than having to deal with John's sarcasm and mocking. If that didn't do it for a person than truly nothing would.

Now Wally couldn't speak for anyone else in the League but he liked Question. In a purely platonic sense of course, something Question insisted be perfectly clear because Huntress could be jealous and when combined with the fact she was certifiable…well, it was best to keep things clear.

Most everyone was quick to point out the fact the Question was a conspiracy loving, Girl Scout suspecting, at times anti-League, mildly homicidal, raving lunatic more paranoid than Batman was on even his really bad days. Wally was equally quick, if not quicker, to point that he himself was a bit of a raving conspiracy happy, borderline maniac-depressive lunatic who purposefully surrounded himself with paranoid and suspicious people in order to make himself look a little less out there.

Not that it worked. He still struck most people are weird as hell. Then again most people didn't know he hung out with the likes of Batman, Question, and Lantern so it was to be expected, he supposed…

And the Girl Scouts were most likely up to something. The fact that they only had those damn coconut cookies left when they got around to Wally's place just proved it. Who did a guy have to kill to get a box of Thin Mints, for Christ's sake!

He could actually go for a box of Thin Mints at the moment. Or Gummy Worms. He was flexible like that, willing to compromise in order to achieve his goal and whatnot.

Anyway.

They got along pretty well and Wally was always interested in the latest possible going-ons with the government (evil evil government), high powered corporations (also evil) or just in general speculation on just about anything. The fact that Question was the only one who believed his Evil Electronics theory didn't hurt their friendship any, to be sure.

Yes, Wally liked Question. And yet, in spite of that admitted fact, the Faceless Wonder was just about the last thing he wanted to wake up next to. Thusly, he couldn't be blamed for groaning, rolling over, and cursing. It was nothing personal; it just wasn't his idea of a good wake up call.

He could, of course, think of a few things that constituted a good wake up call and all but one involved John and the one that didn't involve John involved pancakes and bacon and certainly had room for John in it, assuming he was the one holding the aforementioned food.

Which brought to mind some slightly kinky things involving syrup, which, for the record, would also constitute a good wakeup call. Again, he was flexible. …And not in a perverted way, thank you very much. Not that he was talking about with any one at least.

Though…he could be flexible in the less than pure sense. He just wasn't talking about it.

"Nice to see you're awake."

Wally grunted, pulling the other pillow over his head. "Go 'way."

"Can't. Your boyfriend threatened me with severe and potentially irreversible bodily harm should I not be here when he gets back and I'm sure you know how much I like keeping all of my various parts just where they are."

Wally had to admit that certainly sounded like something John would say, considering that he was kind of insane. And by kind of Wally meant really. He sighed and rolled over to face Question.

"Where'd he go?"

"I couldn't tell you."

Wally arched an eyebrow. "Right. I promise not to tell John that you're keeping tabs on him."

Question somehow, in spite of not having a face, managed to look offended. "I assure you I am not keeping tabs on your boyfriend Wally."

"You're keeping tabs on everyone because you're a paranoid freak." There was a pause like Question was considering Wally's words. "So. Where is he?"

"Keystone. Checking in with your family I believe. You've been asleep on and off for a little over two days and I imagine they were getting worried."

Wally sat up in surprise, ignoring the lightheaded feeling that washed over him. On and off for almost two days? That was…impossible. Wally rarely slept normally, having discovered that as long as he ate and rested every so often he could go for a long time without any actual sleep. Sleeping for two days was just…he didn't think he could even manage something like that on a physical level.

"What?"

"I heard you had a fever." Wally arched an eyebrow and Question coughed. "Okay, I made a small detour into the medical files while I was emailing Huntress and happened to see that you were running a high fever after you got back. You checked out okay with the doctor though; he thinks you had a bug or something."

"I don't get sick."

"Oh?"

"Not since I got hit by lightening, no." He shrugged then reached up and rubbed at his shoulder, which ached somewhat. The muscle felt tight and stiff under his skin as if it hadn't been moved in…well, two days. "Not sure why; I can't exactly go to a doctor and ask about it, you know?"

"Not a normal doctor, no."

"Not any doctor thanks. After that crap with that guy that Supes took Supergirl to only to have him make a clone that nearly blew up the Watch Tower? I'd rather just not try to fix what ain't broken, one clone adventure was more than enough for me."

A very poor replica of course, since Wally had kicked its ass, saved the day, and saved the rest of the League with no real effort. You could duplicate him all you wanted but he was pretty sure that without all of the 'mental' bits that made him who he was it just wouldn't work.

He was sure John would have a thing or two to say about his assessment of such things, but it was likely they would be ego-crushing and thus not something Wally was interested in hearing.

"Apparently something is broken. You can't let one psychotic…wait. This is wrong. Am I trying to convince you to see a doctor, in spite of the high potential for chaos, clones, and exposure?"

Wally nodded solemnly and got that feeling that if he could Question would be doing some seriously confused blinking right about now.

"Huh. Well. Ignore me."

Wally smiled brightly. "I usually do. So. I know John was all threat happy and stuff, but do you think he intended for you to watch me shower? Because that's what I'm going to do now and I'd rather do it alone, but if you're afraid he'll hurt you I guess you can come along."

"I'll stay here and…wait."

Wally nodded and managed to haul his stiff body out of the bed and shuffle towards the bathroom, carefully ignoring the lightheaded feeling that once again washed over him. He heard the door shut after him and reached into the shower to turn it on, glancing himself in the mirror.

He was paler than usual, looking almost washed out in comparison to the bright hue of his hair, which clung to his skin in a way that was less than pleasant. He had dark smudges under his eyes, which looked almost glazed and had he been looking at anyone other than himself he would have thought he was on the verge of a collapse.

He looked away, pulling off his clothes and stepping under the warm spray. It beat down on his skin and he sighed, immediately feeling a little better. He stretched some, feeling the pleasant pain of joints popping and his body forcing itself into full awareness. The monster headache was, once again, gone along with the sick dizzy feeling, neither of which he was complaining about.

It had been really weird though, one minute he was fine and the next he was on the ground heaving up everything he'd had in the last week, or so it had felt. Now he felt fine. He had to admit he was worried, mainly because he didn't get sick. He didn't understand it.

Hopefully it was over and he wouldn't have to put up with much poking and prodding and nagging from the rest of the League. Of course Wally didn't put much stock in it being that simple, because nothing ever was that simple with him.

He raked his hands through his hair then ducked under the spray. At least he could be assured that John had taken care of things during his extended nap. Aunt Iris was really fond of the man and would probably gloss over the fact he was sick in favor of John's company. She was undeniably…quirky in that way. He heard it was a genetic trait.

Still, he'd go home soon and let her and Bart know that he was really okay. He didn't want them to worry or anything. After Barry had died…well, he tried to make things easy on her.

He leaned against the wall, the press of cool tile welcome against his warm skin. The steam billowed around him as the spray pounded down on his back, helping to further ease the tense muscles there.

He could have stayed there forever but after some amount of time he heard the sound of the door sliding back and felt cool air from outside of the bathroom. He stood up straight and blinked water out of his eyes.

"Question?"

"Why, does he watch you shower often?" John's voice was thick with wry amusement. Wally rolled his eyes and turned off the water before stepping out of the shower and grabbing the towel John was kind enough to hold out to him.

"Not that I know about, but I wouldn't be surprised." He dried his hair quickly then raked a hand through it. "So. You owe me food."

John blinked slowly. "You threw up, passed out, and were unconscious for two days and the first thing on your mind is food?"

"Of course not. What do you take me for?" Wally frowned, trying to look scandalized. "My first thought was sex. It's always sex, but I figured I'd have to work my way up to that because of all those things you mentioned. We could start with sex I suppose but I really think…where're you going?"

Okay, so his first thought had been why he didn't want to see Question when he woke up, followed by food, but sex had been a really close third. There was no reason for John to be rolling his eyes and walking away like that.

"Put some clothes on."

"What? No." John was, per usual, not getting the point. For such a smart man he was really rather dense. Wally walked after him, after checking to make sure that Question was actually gone. (If he hadn't Wally would have at least done more with the towel then tossed it on the bed.) "Being dressed would be highly counterproductive don't you think? In fact I think you should get undressed."

"Bruce wants to see you in the infirmary."

"…No." John, who was sitting at the desk on the far side of the room by the window looked up at him as if questioning his sanity. Again. Wally stared back. If it had been anyone but John was Wally was nude in front of it might have played hell on his self-worth, but since it was John it was just a challenge, less a reflection on Wally as on John's annoying tendency to try to do the right thing. One that Wally intended to win of course.

John's eyes darted away from his face for a split second and Wally had to fight to keep the grin off his face. He'd won. John didn't know he'd won yet but he knew how to spot the little things that gave away when John's resolve was weakening. It made sense; how could he resist after all.

"What if you're actually sick?"

"I don't get sick." Wally said with a shrug. "It was probably the heat or something. I was sweating pretty badly…but I'm fine now. Haven't felt better in weeks." John still looked skeptical, damn his sense of reasonability and logic. Wally flopped onto the bed and arched an eyebrow. "C'mon John, you know me. If I felt bad I wouldn't shut up about it."

John was silent for a moment then rolled his eyes. "I suppose. You are a whiner."

"Yes I am." On the grand scale of things being insulted somehow ranked below what Wally was going for. "So now you're going to get undressed, right?"

"Your one track-mind is inspiring." John was back on his feet though and his costume faded into jeans and a t-shirt. Wally nodded, agreeing. When one could easily handle a dozen or so different trains of thought it was important to pick out the important ones and focus on them.

Or something like that. John was just about in arms reach and so whatever point he'd been justifying to himself seemed a considerable amount less important.

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Someone was rather adamantly knocking on the door. They had been for almost a minute now.

Wally cracked open an eye and looked at John who didn't even stir. John apparently didn't see the point in moving if he knew Wally would get frustrated and answer the door first. There was no way in hell he was actually sleeping anymore, since he was just as light a sleeper as Wally, but he faked it a lot better than he did. The other man was on the other side of the bed, facing him with one of his hands rest on Wally's hip.

They were still knocking.

"What?" Wally's voice was thick with sleep and a little raspy. John's fingers flexed, tips moving over his skin before he went still again. Wally was half-tempted to roll closer but at the same time it was kind of warm and he was well aware of the fact John didn't take kindly to being hot or smothered.

Which he usually ignored at the risk of being kicked out of the bed in the middle of the night.

"Flash" That would be Bruce, coming to find out where the hell he was two and half hours after he'd sent John to go and retrieve him. Actually he probably wasn't wondering, had probably known exactly what had happened after half-an-hour and had just known better than to come down here banging on the door at that point.

Something Wally really appreciated. He never hated the whole saving of the world more than during those moments when no person should have to deal with interruptions.

"Go 'way. 'M not decent." Wally put his head back on the pillow, knowing good and damn well that wouldn't do anymore than give Bruce a few second's pause. John snorted softly and then Wally found himself being dragged closer. John's body shifted and fit against his and Wally knew this was only John's way of making the fact he was going to have to get up that much harder.

Tormenting bastard.

"You brought this on yourself." John muttered against his ear.

"Don't be a killjoy." Wally said, opening his eyes again and glaring at the door heatedly. There was a silver of light coming in from outside and he could see where Bruce was standing because of the shadow he cast.

"Be in the infirmary in fifteen or else I'm sending Wonder Woman." There was a long pause and then: "She'll be very upset if I have to call her away from Oracle."

"Yeah yeah." Wally called back and watched as, after a hesitation, Bruce's shadow vanished. Wally didn't move for a moment then looked back at John who smirked at him before letting him go and sliding off of the bed. Wally sighed and got up as well.

He hated doing pointless things and could already feel just how pointless this was going to end up being. Batman would fun his scans and tests and they'd show nothing and then Wally would be annoyed all day because something would happen that they'd need to take care of and he probably wouldn't get to sleep again until tomorrow.

It was a foul injustice really.

0000000000000

TP: Well, if you felt Wally's pain I'm doing my job, ne? It did actually make me a little sick writing it…so, I figured it was okay for others to see.

Miyosha: I try to work humor into everything, even the depressing stuff, and Wally's snarky mind just makes it so easy…

Mechante: John comes to Wally's aid sometimes, yeah, but I'd like to think that Wally usually saves himself. Part of what I love about John and Wally is that it's easy to be sarcastic, sweet, fluffy, and dark all at the same time. So yeah, like French fries in the frosty… but they have to be crunchy fries otherwise the effect is lost…

Cherre: No…Clark is never evil. Superman is often annoying/evil, but rarely Clark. Clark is…always of the good. We like Clark, especially the Clark spawned of 'Smallville'. Or we did…not so much lately. Made Lex crazy he did.

Rose: Clark shall suggest it...very carefully, as any would in his situation. And yeah, Wally's pretty much pulling a Bart, only minues the speedforce because the cartoon never mentioned it and far be it for me to bore anyone with ramblings about it, but to be fair Wally did it first way back when. Only again, not with the speedforce. So I guess Wally is pulling a Wally and Bart pulled a modified Wally...or...ugh. Confused myself

And thanks to Moon, Astalder, and Soker.


End file.
